What Syrian Rebels Think of Obama

AFP went to Aleppo to get the views of Syrian rebels on the Obama-Putin deal. Not surprisingly, the rebels are angry:

Rebel fighters have expressed disdain for US President Barack Obama after he backed away from striking over alleged chemical weapons attacks, saying the world does not care about Syria.

Leaders of two rebel brigades … also accused Russia and the regime of Bashar al-Assad of conspiring to buy time for the Syrian president to press his campaign against those seeking to overthrow him. …

“America told the world it would bomb Syria and then, when the time came, it got scared,” said Abdelqaderi Asasheh, operations chief of the Liwa al-Tawhid brigade in Aleppo.

The battalion’s commander, Abdulaziz Salameh, was even more scathing about the United States.

While accusing Russia and Syria of “devising a perfect plan to put a stop to an attack by the West,” he said “Obama has shown himself not to be a man of honour, without anything to say.” …

Abu Feras, spokesman for Al-Tawhid, said “the international community doesn’t care what happens to Syria. If it really did it would have intervened a long time ago.”

“The United States and Russia are playing with Syria; we mean absolutely nothing to them. The same is true of the United Nations, which accuses the regime of crimes against humanity and keeps talking and talking, as if that would solve anything. They have been talking for 30 months and done absolutely nothing.”

A man standing nearby, interjected: “Obama is a liar. He won’t keep his word. He said he would attack if Assad used chemical weapons against the civilian population. What more does he need to intervene and put an end to this slaughter.”

Hassan al-Mara, a former school teacher turned fighter, agreed with the man.

“You are right, the West has let us down again. America and Europe have shown that their threats were no more than cheap propaganda.”

The rebels made a fundamental error: they took Obama seriously when he issued his “red line” threat, and didn’t realize he was just bullshitting. The Syrian fiasco recalls the immortal line from Animal House: “You f***** up. You trusted us.”